Good morning and Happy New Year. I’m sitting here at home in
my pajamas, reminiscing of my crazy New-Year’s Eve celebration. I stayed up
until nearly 11pm, and woke up at roughly 2am to a few scattered messages and
memes wishing me the happiest of times, and promptly went back to bed.
I’m in rough shape. The month of December took its toll on
me. Although technically I had six days off in a row for the Christmas holiday,
I kept moving throughout with a trip to the Science Museum and Minnesota Zoo,
and a family Christmas celebration just preceding my vacation to San Diego
where I also kept moving the entire time, save for a few serene moments by the
fireplace. Of course I would do it all again if I could. When I came back home
I had to deal with a car that wouldn’t start, and four days of work that were
chaotic at the least, and productive at their best. So right now, as I sit in
my La-Z-Boy recliner with the laptop quite literally in my lap, I feel peaceful
and composed for the first time in about a month.
I’m a little worried about my financial situation right now
because there is potential that I will not be working at all for the next 11
days. This is due to a traditional lull in the laminating business during the
beginning part of the year, and the Wild going out of town again for a while. I
also may have gone a little over budget with Christmas gifts (including but not
limited to a very nice camera), and an unexpected starter for my car. This is
the reason I’m blogging from home today, although shortly in I realized I had a
gift certificate for Nina’s which I will use tomorrow. All that said I have
enough money to pay rent and all of my bills, while still being able to eat
food, drink water, and go do things. I just have to watch myself and avoid the frivolous
spending moments that can add up so quickly.
For the rest of this post, I think I’ll share some pictures
that I have only posted on Facebook thus far. They involve two trips, to two
zoos, just a few short days apart. I can tell you that, in my book, both trips
were equal for various reasons, and I won’t be comparing them, merely sharing
them with you.
It all started back in the year 2016….
Many of my readers know this kid, and even more of you have read about her at some point. This is Audrey, daughter of Seth and Chelsey. Her and Chelsey came up to the cities for a day of fun, including this spot on a cable access channel where we read the news for millions of viewers.
We wore ugly Christmas sweaters, and she made this funny face which will now be on the internet forever!
The ever popular picture: T-Rex with V-Rex.
The mystical farting penguin.
The shark with scoliosis.
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| Definitely the saddest scene at the MN Zoo. This guy was all alone in the tank with no toys. He just kind of moped around. |
Jellyfish might just be the coolest thing ever.
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| This is a monkey. Monkeys have tails, apes do not. Now you know. |
And just a couple days later, I was at the San Diego Zoo, which I also captured with my fancy new camera. Of course, the big difference was the weather; it was a lot warmer and much sunnier in California, which added to the whole Christmas Day excursion.
This is what all of the fuss in Anchorman is about?
I told her I was going to take her picture and to just act natural. She was not amused.
Meh.
Boring, but still pretty cool.
A dog and his best friend, the cheetah.
This is the best shot I could get of the rhino.
Someday when I figure out the software for my camera, I'll upload a really cool video I shot of the flamingos doing something quite odd to this blue mat.
This little guy kept his eyes on us, I think he knew feeding time was coming up.
So, yeah, I like taking pictures of pretty flowers.
These are apes.
Here it is, a picture of me taking a P.O.V. of me feeding a giraffe. Yes, I'm wearing a safari hat, and yes, I have a sweater tied around my waist.
One of the coolest things I saw, which I did not capture on hypothetical film, was an elephant eating a candy cane that it was given after an oral examination. Afterwards a lady told everybody that all of the elephants were roughly 500-600 pounds overweight.
These next few shots are from the sky... thing. You know those buckets you sit in and you go up in the air and across the whole place that you are visiting? Well, one of those things. I'm sure there is a name.
See, these things.
So, two incredible adventures mixed in with an already busy schedule. This last month has been memorable to say the least. As we step foot in the doorway of 2017, I remind you to take a step back, and appreciate the beauty that surrounds each day. Not every day can be a trip to the zoo, but every now and then I think it's important to do something a little different to break up the monotony of work and life that we settle into, especially after the holidays. So, Happy New Year, and enjoy your long weekend!
